A View from the Editorial Board: Texas crusade rewrites history texts

And you thought the teaching of high school history is dry and dull, glorified Trivial Pursuit? Not so in our hyper-partisan Red and Blue world.

After years of controversy over the science curriculum, now social studies has become the battleground of the culture wars. The Texas State Board of Education recently proposed making significant changes in textbooks to reflect a conservative Christian ideology, with a final vote slated for May. The outcome will inevitably affect us here in the Mid-South because the size of the Texas book market dictates that any modifications will be reflected in the books our schools use.

In question here is the sea change that has taken place in social science. Traditionally, American history was taught to shape children into good little citizens. An American-centric view emphasized U.S. superiority, God's Chosen People living in a "City on a Hill." History was written by white men about the white men who shaped our institutions. Minority groups and women were absent from this grand narrative, as they were from politics, economics, the military, even the arts.

A different perspective was introduced several decades ago as previously excluded groups searched for their own past by examining issues such as immigration, labor movements, progressive reform, slavery and segregation, and the role of women. Their revised history revealed some rather sordid aspects of the American story. Truth be told, sometimes the revisionists went overboard, showing a bias that elevated minor historical figures as if there were an ethnic quota system and playing down the importance of religion for individuals and groups.

It is these changes that Texas wants to reverse. Board member Don McLeroy insists on presenting an exalted view of U.S. origins to contrast with what he sees as our current decline. He will "stand up to the experts" by proclaiming the "fact that the foundational principles of our country are biblical, Christian beliefs."

In fact there's no such fact. Yes, most English colonists were white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants. But evidence compiled at Baylor University shows that fewer than 20 percent of early Americans were actively involved in church. Yes, our revered Founding Fathers did see the Providence of God at work in America's creation, but they leaned toward Unitarianism and used religion as a practical instrument to promote civic virtue.

The real dilemma is that there's no such thing as objective history. Even a dry, names-and-dates approach requires choosing some facts over others. Actually, that's one of the big arguments about the changes proposed in Texas -- who's in and who's out.

Who's in? Jefferson Davis, with a speech included alongside that of Abraham Lincoln.

Who's out? Thomas Jefferson, as an influential intellectual of the Enlightenment (oops, that term is out, too). He's replaced by theologians John Calvin and Thomas Aquinas.

Who cares?

We all should.

Attitudes forged in childhood are difficult to dislodge. The story that we tell ourselves about who we are and where we came from shapes how we see ourselves and our place in the world. It should be told openly, honestly, thoroughly and as objectively as possible. And it should ring true with the real-life experiences of all students, many of whose struggles more truly reflect the essence of the American story than some sanitized Fantasyland version.

Is this uproar much ado about nothing? No effective teacher is limited by what is in the textbook. A biased book may present a learning opportunity. Lee Burns, Presbyterian Day School headmaster, asserts that today's students must learn "to sift the good from the bad, the sophisticated from the simplistic, fact from opinion." Why not start with a critical analysis of the text itself? Unfortunately few teachers will, or can, do that. The book matters.

Like it or not, the United Staes is the most multicultural nation on Earth. Its openness, diversity and sometimes grudging acceptance of change have always been its strengths. The ground continues to shift under our feet. White Americans are already a minority in four states, including Texas, and will be nationwide by 2050.

This nation was founded and built by very human and imperfect people who sometimes did dreadful things. To gloss over the rough spots with a righteous chauvinism precludes our learning from mistakes. To emphasize the ugly underside misses the larger point of the remarkable ability of our system to adjust and develop in conformity with ideals that stood way above the reality of the people who put them in place and that have served as a beacon to the world ever since.

Lucie R. Bridgforth of Olive Branch is a retired instructor at Northwest Mississippi Community College and a citizen member of The Commercial Appeal's editorial board.